Micco, Fort Pierce residents claim multimillion-dollar Lotto payouts

MICCO — A 61-year-old representative of a local trust has claimed half of a $40 million Lotto jackpot won with a free ticket picked up Aug. 17 from a Sebastian grocery store.

On Wednesday, Micco resident Janet Thorne, trustee of the Thomas J. Wright Dock Crew Trust, finally presented the winning ticket and opted to take a one-time $12.9 million payout on behalf of the undisclosed members of the trust, according to Florida Lottery officials.

Further information about the prize winners hasn't yet been released by lottery officials. Thorne declined commment.

The winning ticket was from the Publix store in the 13400 block of U.S. 1. The ticket cost nothing because it was a prize for picking two numbers in a prior Florida Lotto drawing.

The other half of the $40 million jackpot was won with a ticket purchased in St. Augustine.

Throne was the second Treasure Coast resident to claim a Lotto prize on Wednesday. Fort Pierce resident Rubin Johnson, 65, took a one-time payment of $6.69 million in a $10 million Lotto drawing on Sept. 7.

It wasn't until Tuesday that he learned he was a winner. Johnson was out of town at the time of the drawing and didn't check the ticket. On Tuesday he went to the Tiki Shell in the 6300 block of North U.S. 1 and saw a sign saying a winning ticket was sold there.

"As soon as I walked in, I overheard someone say the winner was a regular, but I never thought it was going to be me," according to a press release from the Florida Lottery.

The gas station, at U.S. 1 and Kings Highway, received a bonus of $35,000 for selling the ticket.

The Publix store, in Sebastian, received a $60,000 bonus. A Publix corporate spokesman said the company won't disclose what it will do with the money.